In recent years, CE (Consumer Electronics) apparatus have been becoming popular and getting widely used. Examples of the CE apparatus are audio-visual apparatus such as a video deck, a stereo set and a television, household electronic appliances such as a rice cooker and a refrigerator and other electronic apparatus each including an embedded computer for deriving benefit from a service rendered through a network.
Services provided by servers include a service requiring that a CE apparatus be authenticated. For this reason, the CE apparatus includes apparatus authentication information embedded in advance at the factory as information used for authenticating the apparatus.
FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram referred to in description of the conventional method to include apparatus authentication information in an apparatus. Apparatus authentication information to be included in CE apparatus is managed by a management server 107 of a management center 103.
The management server 107 transmits apparatus authentication information to a factory 105 serving as a factory manufacturing CE apparatus.
Since the apparatus authentication information is secret information that must be handled with strict confidence, the apparatus authentication information is transmitted to the factory 105 by making efforts to prevent the information from being leaked out to others.
At the factory 105, a connection means 110 is linked to a connector of a CE apparatus 109. The connection means 110 is a unit for receiving apparatus authentication information from the management server 107 and supplying the information to the CE apparatus 109.
The connection means 110 has an embedded function to decrypt encrypted apparatus authentication information. Thus, the connection means 110 is capable of decrypting encrypted apparatus authentication information received from the management server 107.
The connection means 110 then supplies the decrypted apparatus authentication information to the CE apparatus 109 to be stored in a storage unit employed in the CE apparatus 109.
As an invention for including apparatus authentication information in a CE apparatus as described above, there have been discovered an electronic-apparatus-manufacture system and an electronic-apparatus-manufacturing method, which are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-134654.
In accordance with this invention, on the basis of a product serial number written on a barcode label seal pasted on a CE apparatus, apparatus authentication information of the apparatus is read out from a database and included in the apparatus.
By the way, with the conventional method, the connection means 110 decrypts apparatus authentication information. It is thus quite within the bounds of possibility that the apparatus authentication information is leaked out from the connection means 110.
In recent years particularly, there are many cases in which low-cost overseas producers are entrusted with manufacturing of products. It is thus necessary to provide a mechanism for including apparatus authentication information transmitted to the factory 105 in a CE apparatus 109 with a high degree of reliability without leaking out the apparatus authentication information to others.
It is desired to provide a terminal or the like capable of including apparatus authentication information in an apparatus with a high degree of safety.
It is desired to confirm that apparatus authentication information has been included in an apparatus properly in a state of handling the information with strict confidence.